Group working to change state flag reports KKK threat

A group working to change the state flag, which is the last in the nation containing the Confederate battle emblem, says it received a YouTube video and warning from the Ku Klux Klan, WLOX TV reported.

A man in the YouTube video posted by United Dixie White Knights says: “Y’all aren’t going to take down our flag. We gonna fight.” The video has since been taken down by YouTube.

Mississippi Rising Coalition, the activist group working to remove the flag, held a press conference Wednesday in Ocean Springs to respond to the threat.

“We believe you sent this to us with the intent not only to intimidate, but in the hopes that we would react publicly,” coalition president Lea Campbell said. “You get your wish. We are eager to confront you, your hateful bigotry, white supremacy and your allies publicly.”

Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, issued a statement Friday stating, “Hateful threats should have no place in our discourse and I think part of the responsibility is on us as public officials to call this behavior out when it happens. … This week demonstrates that we need all good Mississippians to keep doing good work and remain vocal.”

Baria is a candidate for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker.

Adam Ganucheau, who covers politics and state government, has been a staff reporter for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson and The Birmingham News/AL.com. Ganucheau, a graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of Mississippi, is from Hazlehurst.

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